WALTHAM, Mass. & PASADENA, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– Axial Biotherapeutics, a biotechnology company dedicated to building a
unique class of gut-targeted programs for neurodegenerative and
neuropsychiatric diseases, today announced the completion of a $25
million series B equity financing. New investor Seventure Partners, via
its microbiome-focused fund Health for Life Capital™, led the financing
along with existing investors Longwood Fund, Domain Associates, Heritage
Medical Systems and a group of high net worth individuals based in
Southern California. The new funding will be used to advance Axial’s
programs in Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Autism spectrum disorder (ASD).
Both programs include small molecules targeting the gut-brain axis.

“We appreciate the strong support from our existing investors and are
excited to welcome Seventure, who are deeply committed to supporting
visionary companies like Axial, into our investor group,” said David H.
Donabedian, Ph.D., Co-founder and CEO of Axial Biotherapeutics.
“Leveraging the gut-brain axis, we have made extensive progress in our
translational research and are excited to progress our clinical programs
in 2019.”

Axial’s PD program, which evaluates organisms and genes over-represented
in the PD gut- microbiome, has resulted in the identification of a
pathway that is sufficient to induce motor and GI symptoms and brain
pathology in a validated, preclinical PD model. Axial’s PD program
includes both AB-4166 and the AB-4000 series. AB-4166 is a
first-in-class intervention that is currently being evaluated for safety
and tolerability in a subpopulation of PD subjects. Axial’s PD program
has also identified multiple novel chemical entities in the AB-4000
series which are being developed to have improved selectivity as
potential next-generation drug candidates for PD and other
neurodegenerative diseases.

Axial’s program in ASD is focused on research which demonstrates that
reducing systemic and brain exposure to problematic microbial
metabolites may improve core and non-core ASD symptoms related to
behavior and gut health. The company’s lead product, AB-2004, is a drug
candidate that has demonstrated, in animal models, the ability to repair
leaky gut and improve repetitive behavior, anxiety, and ASD-related
sensorimotor gating deficits by removing key microbial metabolites.
AB-2004 is expected to enter a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial in ASD
adolescents in the first quarter of 2019.

“We are impressed by the progress made by Axial’s team and founders in
bringing the broad concept of treating neurological diseases and
disorders via peripheral targets found in the gut-microbiome, using
well-understood mechanisms of action,” said Isabelle de Crémoux, CEO and
Managing Partner at Seventure Partners. “We look forward to partnering
with David and his team to advance the development of Axial’s promising
pipeline into transformative products for patients.”

About Axial Biotherapeutics:Axial Biotherapeutics is a
clinical stage biopharmaceutical company harnessing its understanding of
the gut-brain axis to develop novel Central Nervous System (CNS)
therapeutics to improve the quality of life for people with CNS diseases
and disorders. www.axialbiotherapeutics.com